23 year old female in desperate need of help

Add me if you'd like. Trying to stay positive as well!

I agree, find a fun exercise and do it 3 - 4 times a week (bike riding is mine). I also do 1 or 2 other exercises weekly to cross train (usually strength training and Elliptical at Snap Fitness). But - I eat a little chocolate or ice cream or chips; but eat lighter meals early in the day. I almost always eat either a small chocolate bar, or a 4-8 ounce portion of ice cream, or some chips 4 - 5 times a week - and still I am losing weight.

What works for me is waiting until I am craving one of my 3 favorite so-called "bad" items, then I plan for it by eating a lighter breakfast and lunch and then exercising. I can not go forever without eating the things I really like, so I just plan around them. I don't even feel like I am dieting if I include the things I like regularly, because mentally I know I can have anything I really want occasionally.

WeIght loss is simple addition and subtraction: add extra calories you can eat by adding exercise, subtract what you eat. MFP.com is just our diary that lets us know where we are at for the day, so we can plan for the things you know you must have sometimes.

Good luck, we can all do this thing!

Feel free to add me, too.

All of what everyone has said is wonderful, especially about finding exercise that you like and that isn't boring. There are so many different activities that you can do, DVDs, and exercise programs that almost anyone can find something that isn't boring. It will take time to find what you love, but try different things. I promise you that you will feel like you look silly doing some of it... Learn to laugh at yourself. Eventually you'll get the hang of it. Laughing will burn a few extra calories too. You'll think "I can't do this.." and want to give up. Don't listen to that voice. If you push yourself, you'll be surprised at what you can do and how much that will change your way of thinking.

Everyone ks right... Support is huge too. If you don't have people encouraging you and praising you for your accomplishments, it's a lot harder. It's about doing it for you, but we all need reinforcement from others sometimes. We all need people to talk to. Do not rely on the people who will try to bring you down. If someone says you won't or you can't do something, prove them wrong... Shut them up. There are "haters" out there but the people who honestly care about your journey (and less about their own body issues), will encourage you and support you.

A huge part of it is mental too. You have to WANT to really, honestly change ...forever. Make it more about a healthy way of living than a diet. Unless you are able to change your way of thinking, you probably won't be able to stick to something. I didn't track weight earlier in my 20s but I know that I gained and gained weight after high school and into college. When I was 23, just a few months out of college I was 340 pounds. That's my highest known weight. I spent most of my 20s between 285 and 315. Until I decided enough was enough and I was committed to making a change, all of my attempts to lose weight resulted in failure. I thought I wanted it, but obviously I didn't want it enough to make the changes and fight through the hard parts. Like any change, you have to be ready to change your lifestyle.

Hope that helps.

I will never get the help i need to do every time i exercise it gets so boring and then i go back to chocolate I don't know what to do anymore

1st drop the duckface
2nd see #1

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

I will never get the help i need to do every time i exercise it gets so boring and then i go back to chocolate I don't know what to do anymore

1st drop the duckface
2nd see #1

Fantastical!

I will never get the help i need to do every time i exercise it gets so boring and then i go back to chocolate I don't know what to do anymore

You have to want it. You have to see that it works and be happy about the victories and ride the victories to the next. Put symbols up around the house that represent what you want, put happy stickers on a calendar for all good forward days. I used to put pictures up of clothes I wanted to fit into someday. Set up your physical environment for success, don't keep trigger foods in your house. During my first year of weight loss I had some homemade almond roca type candy stashed. Every once in a while I would eat a pretty big hunk of it (I wasn't counting calories yet), but I was losing weight by eating smaller portions. Every time I at the candy I gained a couple of pounds and it took me awhile to lose it, and after awhile I stopped doing it. But later when I started counting calories on here I learned to "budget in" those treats so I would not go insane. You can have a little chocolate within your calorie budget and lose weight. You can have everything you want, just not all at once. Many times I wanted more or something and would tell myself I could have some more tomorrow and I'd wait. I only eat foods I love, life is too short, and calories are too precious to waste on foods you don't like, so I always want more, even in maintenance now I'm tempted. But I can have more tomorrow because nothing tastes as good as being the fittest, strongest, and leanest I've ever been in my life at almost 52 and giving up my dream life right now.

My story --> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/740340-i-lost-60-lbs-at-age-51-anyone-can-any-workout

Recent fun exciting things happening, I will be in Oxygen, I will be giving fitness talks (all volunteer at this point), and I'm having the time of my life. My husband says in middle age I got a 2nd chance at youth --> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/752246-i-m-afraid-to-try-an-new-weight-lifting-program-now

U can do it! Get rid of all the chocolate in the house first. Give to the neighborhood kids or the grocery store cashier when ur buying ur veggies and fruit with a really really good fat free dip :happy: Second get a support group, there are a ton of great ones here on MFP and then add a ton of friends and make ur diary public to ur friends so they can help hold u accountable for what ur are doing and eating! (Feel free to add me). Lastly find something u like. i hate to excercise but I love to dance so i got Zumba for the Wii. Then i realized that i like to walk (either with my hubby or the dog or by myself with music playing in my ears) then cause all my MFP friends liked it and had great results I started Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (youtube) ,....... see the avalanche of how everyone on here helps .... and motivates! Now get rid of the chocolate and the i cant attitude then READY SET GOOOOO!

Exercising (or doing anything at all) just because it is supposed to be good for you is not only boring, it is very hard work. It's usually better to work smart than very hard.

A trick my friends and I use is to somehow always manage to trap ourselves by committing to a future event -- a bike tour, a modest triathlon, a 5K run. It helps to do it with others so you will be embarrassed if you back out. You may put off training at first -- denial -- but that's OK. Do the event anyway and then when you finish you will tell yourself very urgently " next time I am training a LOT more!" Find a way to get trapped into two or three of these a year ... And pretty soon you are exercising most days.

A Danskin Triathlon -- they are scattered around the country -- is a perfect way to start. Supportive atmosphere, not too rigorous -- and no one cares how fast you are.

But until you make it such a habit that it is like taking a shower -- you just do it -- setting specific goals is almost the only way to get started. Hope this helps!

Add me - I’ll try to help

I hate exercising too so instead I just made sure I was walking everywhere I went. I also started playing basketball on the weekends like I used to.

Good Luck!!